We are battling it out against some of the UK’s most successful insurance brokers in the “Customer Service Provider of the Year” and “Personal Lines Intermediary of the Year” (which names the UK’s best broker that offers insurance to the general public).

Chris Nettleton, Director of Leisuredays, will be representing us at the event and had this to say on the fantastic news,

“To be nominated for just one of these prestigious awards in what are hotly contested categories would have been fantastic, so to be shortlisted for two is something which we are hugely proud of. It’s testament to the hard work our whole team put in on a day to day basis to ensure we offer the best possible cover, value and service.”

During the last 12 months we have surpassed our own extremely high customer service standards – something which greatly contributed to us being named finalists in both these awards.

Some of our measures include being more accessible to customers, with extended 7 day opening, including late nights and early mornings on weekdays, and a 24 hour online quote and buy service for holiday home owners.

Leisuredays also take measures to ensure that when you do call you get the best possible service, Chris Nettleton explains,

“Leisuredays aim to resolve 80% of incoming calls first time, meaning that the first person you speak to will generally be the person that deals with your entire query, so you’re never passed from person to person. This is achieved using unique customer phone numbers for different types of enquiries, and an intelligent call tracking system that automatically directs you through to the relevant highly skilled insurance adviser.”

We also carefully monitor our claims service to ensure a high level of satisfaction, and evolve their insurance products to meet customer needs whilst remaining good value for money.

Leisuredays and Caravan Guard received the “Customer Service Provider of the Year” award in 2008 so we are keen to claim it back again this year, and also hope to add the prestigious “Personal Lines Intermediary of the Year” award to our trophy cabinet.

Chris added, “We won the Customer Service Award in 2008 and hope to regain it this year after further improvements to the excellent service we offer our customers. We work extremely hard to continually improve our customer service, so to be recognised in this way is a very welcome reward. On top of that, the Personal Lines Intermediary of the Year category is a very high ranking award that is often the reserve of the UK’s biggest brokers, so to be shortlisted in this category is also a massive achievement. ”

RSA’s business started in 1710 with the Sun Fire Office in London, who later joined the RSA Group, making them one of the world’s oldest insurance companies.

We have forged a strong working relationship with RSA, who not only underwrite all of our holiday home policies, but also our new park home insurance scheme which they helped develop thanks to their extensive knowledge of household insurance.

“RSA are one of the largest and most experienced insurers in the UK, and we are very pleased to be able to work with them when developing insurance products for the leisure insurance market. We’ve worked with RSA for many years now and know that their claims handling and underwriting expertise are vital to the award winning customer service we offer our holiday home and park home customers.”

Chris Nettleton, Director, Leisuredays.

We recently handed over a £1000 cheque as part of our sponsorship of the 17 year old athlete, and have pledged to continue our support right up to the 2012 games.

Hannah’s bid for glory is becoming increasingly likely after an intensive winter training program and new coach seem to have paid dividends, with a string of fantastic results already this season including breaking the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m World Record in her classification this weekend. In fact, she broke three World records which were held by top UK athlete and Olympic Gold medallist Deborah Brennan, who was also racing in the events.

Hannah had this to say about Leisuredays continued support,

“My competition schedule has increased a lot this year in the need to get qualifying times for the 2011 World Championships that will lead to the 2012 games. The money helps me get to and compete in all these vital races and also have the equipment I need to perform to the best of my ability.”

One of our Directors Louise Wilby, visited Hannah at her local training track in Halifax to hand over the £1000 cheque,

“Myself and everyone at Caravan Guard and Leisuredays have been hugely impressed by Hannah’s accomplishments over the last few years – her dedication to the sport is astounding and we’re extremely proud to be able to support her at the beginning of what we hope will be a long and successful sporting career.”

Hannah is a mixed distance athlete and as well as her World Records in shorter distances also won the Virgin Mini London Marathon and recently took silver in the 10k BUPA Great Manchester Run, just behind Paralympic Bronze medallist Shelly Woods.

Our 70 members of staff are kept up to date with Hannah’s progress and racing results with regular emails and photos being sent through by Hannah herself – she says it’s a two way street and that knowing the whole company is behind her is a real confidence booster.

“The Caravan Guard and Leisuredays staff are there to support me every step of the way. They are interested in all my achievements and are there to celebrate them with me. Everyone there is friendly and full of encouragement and so their well wishes and hard work to help me achieve my dream keep me going even through the long hard winter months of training.”

The Caravan Extravaganza at Lawns, Hull, is the biggest holiday home show of its type anywhere in Europe. It is divided into two distinct parts: a public show which this year took place over the weekend of Saturday and Sunday 5th and 6th September, and a trade show from Tuesday 8th to Thursday 10th September. Unlike last year when the weather was some of the worst imaginable, this year it was wall to wall sunshine all the way. As a result the crowds on the Saturday and Sunday were estimated to be around 25,000 – the biggest attendance ever.

ABI Connoisseur (to be featured soon in Relax!)

For the first time in many years, ABI (UK) Ltd was back at the show. It had a huge number of holiday homes on display of which the two bedroom Connoisseur and two bedroom St. David attracted considerable interest from potential customers looking to buy over the next few months. We will be reviewing both of them in future issues of Relax.

Another important name which everyone was pleased to see, was BK Bluebird. As you probably know, Willerby who owned the brand, closed its factory in Poole late last year when the recession was starting to bite. However, after further consideration, the company decided to re-introduce BK Bluebird as a division of the company and so gave it its own stand adjacent to the Willerby stand. Examples of all four BK Bluebird homes were on display: the Sherborne, Sheraton, Grosvenor, and Carnival. Watch out for reviews on the Grosvenor and Carnival in future issues of Relax.

Willerby had over 30 of its homes on display including two models of the Westmorland and four versions of the Granada – the 28ft x12ft being new for 2010. On the Pemberton stand, the two bedroom Serena caught our eye whilst another newcomer – Prestige Park & Leisure Homes Ltd – brought along two of its latest models, the 42ft x 14ft Seascape and the 36ft x 20ft Maple Lodge.

Pemberton Serena (to be featured soon in Relax!)

Judging from the comments from all the manufacturers we spoke to, both the public and trade thought the show a success. It’s no exaggeration to say that the trade has had a very difficult 12 months with many of their key employees having to be made redundant. So the fact that so many customers turned up to place orders for new homes over the next 12 months gave a real boost to the industry which is now looking forward to better times ahead.

Many of them were recently unveiled at the Caravan Extravaganza at The Lawns in Cottingham earlier this month.

Some of the key models shown by manufacturers included:

Advent displayed its new Oregano leisure lodge. The show model was a 38ft x 20ft version and Advent expects to introduce two more standard models, 36ft x 20ft and 40ft x 20ft in the future. Advent also displayed a special Jasmine Opus leisure lodge.

Advent Jasmine

Atlas showed an extensive range of homes including its two twin unit lodges, with a 40ft x 16ft, 2-bed version of the Laburnum and a 43ft x 20ft 2-bed Wisteria.

BK Bluebird launched the Sherborne, which will fit between the Sheraton and Senator models in the company’s range. Other homes on show included the Calypso and Calypso Platinum, which include small but important changes for 2009, including a new upholstery fabric.

Pathfinder’s centrepiece was the Silverton Lodge (45ft x 20ft), a cedar-clad home with contemporary interior.

Pathfinder Silverton Lodge

Pemberton Leisure Homes showed the medium range St Moritz, the first run of which sold out as soon as it was launched. Joining it on the company’s stand was an updated version of Pemberton’s well-established Knightsbridge.

Pemberton St Moritz

Swift Holiday Homes showed its new top-of-the-range Champagne model. New finishing details enhance the Chamonix range, a new 30ft x 12ft 2 bedroom layout in the Moselle and new energy-efficient lighting is at the top of the list of improvements to the Burgundy range.

Tingdene’s new launch is the Sandpiper. It is one of the first lodges with a complete open plan front-to-back layout. It comes with vaulted ceiling with high-level windows, two double bedrooms, two shower rooms, flat screen TV integrated into the fireplace and a skirting board heating system.

Wessex Sanctuary

Wessex showed two versions of the Hideaway lodge, which it claims heralds the arrival of the next generation of lodges.  It also showed the new Sanctuary lodge, a 40ft x 20ft, cedar clad home.

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